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Amascut
|examine = Equal parts beauty and brutality. Master of Puppets pulling the strings. She doesn't look very happy with you. }} Amascut, also known as "The Devourer", is the goddess of destruction and one of the four major gods of the Menaphite Pantheon, a family of deities that rule over the Kharidian Desert. She is the daughter of Tumeken and Elidinis and a sister to Icthlarin, another member of the Pantheon. Amascut is often depicted as a lioness-headed woman. Amascut plays the role of antagonist in the desert quest series, spreading chaos and terror, such as devouring the Sophanem High Priest's soul and stealing the Kharid-ib, an ancient, powerful diamond. Personality Amascut was the protector of the physical bodies of the dead while her brother, Icthlarin, was responsible for the transition of these beings into the afterlife. When Amascut travelled to Freneskae with Icthlarin and encountered the Mahjarrat, Amascut became exposed to their violent nature, causing her much distress. Soon after this encounter, she was drawn to the volcano residing on Freneskae for unknown reasons. Her journey to Freneskae's volcano is ambiguous, but it is heavily implied that she made contact with Mah and was corrupted by it. Due to the insanity induced following her encounter with the Mahjarrat, now called the Stern Judges of Icthlarin on Gielinor, and possibly Mah herself, Amascut's personality was warped and she started using her powers for evil. She became focused solely on chaotic destruction and obliteration, dreaming of ruling the Kharidian Plains. She developed a 'mastermind' quality of forming complex plans, often meeting with success. Amascut is easily angered when things don't go as she wants them to, at which point she becomes life-threateningly dangerous. She is, however, extremely scared of feline creatures - her former followers now aligned to Icthlarin, after being converted by Amascut herself - who protect souls from being devoured by her. To this end, her brother granted the cats immortality using the Sphinx, a half-human, half-lion creature, protecting his partisans from her. Abilities As a demigod Amascut is of lesser power than most gods. She still has a profuse amount of magical powers and is very powerful compared to mortals. She is capable of possessing and hypnotising people to do her bidding as seen in Icthlarin's Little Helper and Diamond in the Rough. She is also said to have the ability to modify weather. When hypnotising others, her eyes turn red, and she gains complete control over her target. Amascut can also accomplish this by other means, by casting a powerful spell on the target, causing them to glow brightly and lose awareness. Amascut can change her physical appearance to some extent, since she takes up different guises as Lady Keli, the Wanderer, Sumona, etc. It has been stated by Neite that her true form is that of a cat. Amascut seems to dislike her form, judging by her fear and hatred of cats. History Becoming the Devourer Amascut was born to Tumeken, the god of light, and the river-goddess, Elidinis. At this point she was considered the goddess of rebirth and would work together with her brother with the care taking of the dead. Death would deposit souls in the underworld, and Icthlarin would guide those that wished to move on to the afterlife while Amascut would escort those who desired to be reincarnated to their new bodies. During the Second Age, she helped protect the Kharidian Lands against incoming attacks from the north when the Kharidian - Zarosian War started. The Menaphites were however losing the battles, and so Icthlarin, god of the dead, departed in search of mighty soldiers to protect the desert. He found these in Freneskae and called them his 'Stern Judges'. They were, in reality, the Mahjarrat, a race of powerful magical warlords who were known to have millennia-long lifespans, bought on by taking part in a Ritual of Rejuvenation every 500 years. Icthlarin made a pact with his 'judges', vowing the glory of battle in return for help in protecting the desert. And so, he returned from Freneskae to Gielinor with the Mahjarrat to save his homeland. After Icthlarin and his armies returned, Amascut witnessed the "power of the Mahjarrat". Bilrach's Memory hints that the "power of the Mahjarrat" was actually the Ritual of Rejuvenation; this is something that might reasonably disturb the mind of a god whose role in life is to guide the dead. Whatever the meaning of this phrase, the effects were not visible for some time, and it was not until after the reign of Queen Senliten that she descended into the madness she is best known for. It was after this distortion of her mind that she became known and feared as "The Devourer" for harvesting the souls of all beings. Abandoning her position as goddess of rebirth, she became intent on annihilation and vowed for vengeance upon her brother for her transformation and "brought obliteration, both physical and spiritual". She became increasingly jealous of her brother and tried to undermine him whenever possible. Amascut had set loose beasts in the underworld, trying to devour any souls as they arrived there, erasing them completely. This forced Icthlarin to personally protect each soul he escorts to the afterlife, a time-consuming task that gave him little time to intervene on the surface. While she had completely abandoned her role and caused much destruction in the desert, there is evidence suggesting she was still tolerated at least by her own worshippers. However, in her madness she began to destroy her own temples and clergy. Soon afterwards, Amascut's chief priestesses, one of whom was Neite, rose up in an attempt to stop her. With the help of Icthlarin, they bound Amascut into a human body, making her unable to enter people's bodies, limiting the harm she could cause. In retaliation, Amascut cursed them by turning them into cats. Although they retained some of their former powers, Icthlarin was unable to undo the spell, and so he granted them immortality, making Amascut ironically deathly afraid of cats. God Wars For reasons unknown, there are little records of Amascut's participation in the God Wars despite major battles being fought in the Kharidian region, which had become a desert as a result. Uzer and Ullek fell to the demons Thammaron and Balfrug respectively, while rising new settlements such as Sophanem, Menaphos, and Nardah were left alone. Exactly why she missed such an opportunity to cause destruction is not known, but she laid low during the Wars, only emerging after they were settled with the Edicts of Guthix. She, however, seemed to be semi-active in devouring souls during this period. A notable example is Catolax, a former slayer master and an inhabitant of Ullek, bound to his own tomb by Amascut, preventing him from passing into the afterlife. Stilling her hunger for destruction, as well as thwarting the duty of her brother, Amascut continued her ways for the next centuries. The Lesser Deities Following the banishment of her parents, Amascut was presented with an unprecedented opportunity. With her brother too busy with his role in the underworld to stop her, Amascut began to clear her path of any obstacles preventing her goal of domination of the desert. This included the four lesser gods Apmeken, Crondis, Het and Scabaras. She has spent much of the Fourth and Fifth Ages trying to remove them from power, gaining ground against Apmeken and Scabaras, though the fates of Het and Crondis remain unknown. To take care of Apmeken, the monkey-headed goddess of friendship, Amascut stole her senses of sight, hearing and speech. From these, she forged three mindless, ape-like demons - Ayuni, Eruni and Leeuni respectively - whom she ordered to rid the desert of Apmeken's loyal followers: monkeys. The demons brutally slaughtered all but three of the monkeys and without her following, Apmeken was forced into hiding. Although the Three Wise Monkeys - Iwazaru, Kikazaru and Mizaru - survived, they had each lost one of their senses to the demons. After witnessing the death of a major portion of their race, they fled the desert to start a new life on Ape Atoll, under the reign of King Awowogei. Scabaras, god of enlightenment and isolation, suffered an equally cruel punishment, albeit not from the hands of Amascut. Exactly what happened is not known, as after he was banished from the desert by the Menaphites, all records of him were changed to antagonise him and declare him evil. According to Neite, Scabaras wanted to undermine Elidinis literally, by tunneling under the River Elid, prompting retaliation from the Menaphites. Scabaras was eventually exiled from the desert, damping his influence over the lands. Current Plans The Kharid-ib Kidnapping Prince Ali In 169 of the Fifth Age, Amascut seemed to have set her greatest scheme so far in action. She wishes to obtain the Kharid-ib, a legendary diamond, once given to a previous Emir of Al Kharid by demi-god Het. In order to do this, she disguises herself as a mysterious, hooded criminal mastermind named "Lady Keli". Her first plan of action involves kidnapping Ali Mirza, the prince of Al Kharid, during his visit to Lumbridge. She manages to do this with the help of her two lackeys, Apep and Heru. She also enlists the help of a gang situated in Draynor Village, called The Skulls. Everything seems to be under control, seeing that the founder and leader of the gang, Khnum, is a former, loyal Al Kharid palace guard who had an unfortunate incident involving his young friend Ozan. Back then, Ozan was a thieving orphan who was accidentally caught in the same room as where the Kharid-ib was kept. This incident, wherein Khnum was falsely accused of helping Ozan steal the Kharid-ib by then-captain of the guard Osman, lead to Khnum's discharge and banishment from the city, along with Ozan. With hatred towards Ozan and Al Kharid itself pent up from this betrayal, Khnum sends three of his men, led by mercenary Joe to help Lady Keli kidnap a member of the royal family. A little while later, a grown-up Ozan decides to visit his old friend, oblivious to his anger, and finds out that Khnum is involved in criminal business. After enlisting the help of an adventurer, the two follow Khnum to the Skulls HQ where they confront him. Just as he reveals his reasons for building a gang, Leela, daughter of now-spymaster Osman, storms in claiming to be on a mission to track the kidnappers of Prince Ali. Ozan is shocked at Khnum's treason and the three cooperate, albeit not trusting each other at first, and manage to have Khnum reveal Keli's plan. The party proceed to stop her, as she is about to sail off to the Kharidian Desert with Prince Ali as hostage. They confront her, only growing her resolve as she threatens to kill the prince, whose throat is being held to Apep's uraeusaxe. Keli and her companions jump onto the boat, after she casts a spell on the mercenaries, who'd refused to proceed without extra payment, possessing them into attacking the three protagonists. The Skulls are easily killed, but Lady Keli gets away during the diversion. In the Al Kharid Palace, a conversation between spymaster Osman, the bed-bound Emir Shah and Ambassador Jabari, sent by the Pharaoh of Menaphos, ensues. This is overheard by Ozan and the adventurer, who travel to Al Kharid to deliver the ransom note sans Leela, understanding why she felt too disgraced to face her father after her failure, but were denied access by a palace guard, forcing them to climb onto its roof. The ambassador demands for a Menaphite custodian to ascend the throne of Al Kharid, with the Emir dying and the only heir kidnapped. The Emir refuses, on the grounds that he would never allow a Menaphite to have any form of power in Al Kharid due to the gory Menaphos-Al Kharid War which had been fought out only decades ago. After a heated argument with insults flying back and forth between Osman and the ambassador, Jabari is escorted out of the room by Grand Vizier Hassan and the Emir orders Osman to protect the Kharid-ib with everything possible and not ever, under any condition, hand it to Lady Keli. Ozan and the adventurer break into the room where the diamond is kept and attempt to steal it to save the prince, but unfortunately trigger a silent alarm while doing so. Osman arrests them, but after they explain their purposes and give Osman his daughter's safe pass phrase, he is inclined to believe them although takes the diamond back. The three then go to speak with the Emir. Ozan attempts to convince him that the Kharid-ib is but a diamond and his son's life is more important, but the Emir is persistent in that the diamond, "his heart", must not leave Al Kharid. During the conversation, he suffers a fatal heart attack and passes. Ozan leaves the room in anguish, trailed by Osman and the adventurer. In light of the situation, Osman welcomes Ozan back as a citizen of Al Kharid while Hassan attends to the Emir's last rites. Now, following Amascut's plan, with the Emir dead and the prince gone, the de facto leaders stand to choose between the lesser of two evils. Have Keli kill the prince, resulting in Menaphos over-running the leaderless Al Kharid, or give her the diamond, not only disobeying the Emir's last will but also, albeit unbeknownst, strengthening Amascut massively. Obtaining the Kharid-ib After the previous events, Osman reveals that the Kharid-ib on display was a duplicate to fool thieves, and through manipulation of his speech and word choice, he permitted the two to take the real diamond, disobeying the deceased Emir's orders to rescue the prince. Osman, however, reminds Ozan that should he not return with the diamond, he won't be allowed back in Al Kharid until he'd return it. When entering the desert, the diamond displayed supernatural behaviour, possessing people such as Shantay and a desert bandit king, speaking through them. Although Ozan at first refused to believe the Kharid-ib was more than a gemstone, he soon admitted that it was indeed a very powerful artefact that kept telling them that it wanted to be brought back home. A number of times, the diamond started emitting a high pitch voice, after which a sundial aligned to one of the lesser gods would rise out of the sand, the sunlight showing the direction to the next one. The diamond even tried killing the two on a number of occasions, by summoning a gang of desert bandits and luring them into quicksand. Once the duo fell into the Kalphite Hive while seeking the next sundial, a new ally revealed himself, although neither of them realised. Scabaras, who was thought to have been banished by the hand of Amascut, ordered one of his dung kalphites to steal the diamond. Ozan and the adventurer ran in pursuit and retrieved it anyway, after which Leela, who'd just arrived to the scene, rescued them from the Kalphite nursery. The last sundial pointed in the direction of Amascut's ruined temple, where Lady Keli, Heru and Apep were waiting, with the prince. The party did not wish to give up the diamond without first seeing the prince released, even after Lady Keli made several death threats. The diamond spoke through Apep and Heru, begging not to be given to Keli, but to no avail. Eventually, Keli was forced to possess one of the party members, forcing them to throw the gemstone. Extremely satisfied, Keli remarked that she finally had the diamond after all those centuries and on how cold, small and hard it actually was. The offensive and mocking reactions of Ozan greatly angered her and she revealed that she was a goddess, namely Amascut the Devourer, to the great shock of the team. She then created a sandstorm and ordered her minions to kill Ozan, Leela and the adventurer, and then take care of the prince. After a tedious battle, however, the two lackeys were slain and their bodies were taken away by the kalphites. Prince Ali was rescued and became the new Emir of Al Kharid, repelling Menaphos for the time being, though the Kharid-ib remained in Amascut's possession, effectively keeping Ozan from entering the city, for fear of arrest. He henceforth teleported away to form a plan on how to steal the diamond back. After these events, Amascut meets with another of her associates, Jabari - the emissary from Menaphos. It is revealed Jabari actually poisoned the Emir Shah, in the hopes that the war between Menaphos and Al Kharid would be rekindled when no one could succeed the Emir. Amascut sends Jabari back to Menaphos, while preparing another devious plot herself. Securing Klenter's soul Amascut, disguised as a feeble wanderer in her tent, wants to devour the soul of Klenter, a dead Sophanite high priest before Icthlarin can let him move on. To this end, she waits for the adventurer to meet her and, by hypnosis, forces them to steal a canopic jar with Klenter's organs from his pyramid. Her fear of cats becomes clear at that moment, as she refuses to talk to the adventurer, who fails to recognise her as Amascut, with the feline outside. She hands them her symbol to help accomplish the task. The adventurer gains access to Sophanem through a cave and, with the help of their cat, enters the high priest's pyramid, experiencing a lucid, out-of-body memory as soon as they touch the door. They see themselves in the pyramid, avoiding the various traps and monsters, heading to a vast chasm, which they jump across. As they unlock the room where Klenter's organs are kept, the flashback ends. The entire city becomes hostile due to the theft, though only the sphinx, who appreciates the adventurer's relationship with their cat, agrees to help them. After solving a riddle, the sphinx gives them her token to show to the current High Priest, proving that they are freed from Amascut's hypnosis. The Priest asks them to return the canopic jar, but once they enter the organ room, another memory is seen. The adventurer sees themselves fighting one of the guardians of the organs, a manifestation of one of the lesser gods, then stealing one of the canopic jars. They decide to return the organs, realising they've lost control over their own actions. Returning to the high priest, he asks the adventurer to help out the city's carpenter and embalmer to prepare for the upcoming ceremony in Klenter's tomb. When done, the adventurer enters the pyramid and heads for Klenter's coffin to attend the ceremony. But as they approach the door, a final flashback is seen. In it, they realise that they had unknowingly planted Amascut's unholy symbol in one of the sarcophagi while under her control so she could teleport straight inside the temple whenever she wanted. Remembering this deed, they go to warn the priests who are currently in the pyramid. As soon as the player arrives to foil her plots, the wanderer teleports in and puts her possession skills to use once more. She takes one of the priests and has them kill everyone, but this fails, after which she teleports out of the room. It is later revealed that her hypnosis had been seemingly lifted from the player by her brother Icthlarin himself, as the adventurer was leaving the pyramid with Klenter's organs. Nevertheless, Amascut later manages to get another bypassing adventurer to capture the organs for her, locking Icthlarin in a struggle to keep the canopic jar from her grasp. Manipulating the Scabarites The Plagues of Sophanem Soon after, Amascut set free a number of pests on Sophanem, bringing upon the infamous "Plagues of Sophanem". These had been briefly present when the adventurer stole Klenter's organs, but disappeared once they were returned to their original locations. As Amascut managed to acquire the jar anyway, Sophanem once again became her new target. Immediately after the jar's second theft, a disease swept Sophanem, marking residents' faces with painful red spots. Swarms of giant locusts arrived to the city, destroying its limited crops and posing a danger to the citizens' life. The city's cow population, which served as an important source of food, became infected with a murrain that left their milk undrinkable and their meat rancid. Finally, bloated swarms of diseased frogs began to wash up on the shoreline of the Elid, posing a toxic threat to the city's people. The city's slaves were left idle and all public works projects were terminated. Very shortly after, word of the plague reached the Pharaoh of Menaphos who immediately set a quarantine on Sophanem, preventing access in or out of the city, to avoid infecting Menaphos and the rest of the world. This left many Sophanites trapped in the city, even though most were not even infected. Among them was Maisa, one of the agents of spymaster Osman, who had been sent to Menaphos to perform reconnaissance. Angry at Osman for not coming to rescue her and a fellow agent, who is now deceased, she says "he had better not show up here any more!" The High Priest of Sophanem soon found out, however, that the plague wasn't contagious, which meant the quarantine could be lifted. With the assistance of the adventurer that had stolen Klenter's organs under the wanderer's hypnosis earlier, and several priests, he approached the blocked gate in Sophanem only to be met by flying arrows from the Menaphite guards. The angry High Priest attempted to explain the situation, but Coenus, captain of the Menaphite guard, just would not listen and even threatened to kill the party. Thus, a different entrance to Menaphos had to be found; the High Priest suggested to look below the former Temple to the Lesser Gods, now replaced by the in-ruins Sophanem bank, and find an underground entrance. The Scarab and the Spymaster What none of them knew was that Amascut, pretending to be the banished Scabaras, had been manipulating colonies of Scabarites into doing her will. While a small group of Scabarites remained with their High Priest, a majority of them rested beneath the ruins of Ullek, in a series of tunnels that used to connect Sophanem and Menaphos underground. As the adventurer descends into the dungeon, they find themselves in a large maze filled with blood-thirsty Scabarites, tasked to kill them. Moreover, the maze is infested with many traps, some of which activated a pitfall when triggered, dropping the adventurer in the dark cavern below, where they would meet their end to a scarab lancer's pike. They traverse across the maze onto the next cavern, where an exit to the dungeon leads straight into Menaphos! One problem though: the two are separated by a deep, impassable ravine. At the other side stands Maisa, in a silly disguise, explaining that she is an undercover agent for Osman. She also points to the dead body of a man at the adventurer's side of the chasm; it was Kaleef, another one of Osman's agents, who had been killed by a large beast. Maisa asks the adventurer to get Osman to come to the dungeon, even though she is very angry with him, so that he can do the dirty work for once and get them out. Returning to Al Kharid, the adventurer convinces Osman to join them. He promises to return to Sophanem with the adventurer, but sneaks into the dungeon the same way the adventurer had, and goes through the dungeon. The adventurer follows him, traversing the maze once again, and upon arriving at the end, sees Maisa and Osman arguing. At this point, a number of scarab swarms flock together and collide to form a gigantic scarab - the Scabarites' security system - on Amascut's orders, of course - should anyone ever make it so far. Maisa deduces that the scarab must have killed Kaleef, as his special keris dagger is seen sticking out of its shield. The scarab attacks Osman, who fails to inflict any damage and is thrown to the ground, seemingly dead. His body does not move and he disappears suddenly. Maisa flees the scene, going back to Sophanem, and the scarab proceeds to attack the adventurer. After a tough battle, the scarab is slain and suddenly, with nothing less than a bruise and a cut, an alive Osman appears. It turns out he only pretended to be dead and had blended in the shadows with his spymaster skills. He gives the adventurer the keris, then teleports back to Al Kharid. Seeing that no progress can be made in terms of getting into Menaphos, the adventurer returns to the High Priest to bring him the news. Freeing the High Priest A while later, the High Priest contacts the adventurer again, asking them to examine a body that had just been brought in from Menaphos. Apparently, it is a Sophanite who died of the plague but before embalming the body, the High Priest would like to know the victim's name for quicker transition to the afterlife. After going upstairs, it is revealed that the dead body is actually Maisa, the agent from Al Kharid, who'd faked her death using cadava berries to effectively escape Menaphos. The High Priest goes downstairs, blurting out insults under his breath, while the adventurer looks for an explanation from her. Maisa explains that she wishes to avenge herself on the scabarites for killing her partner Kaleef, but that she is too busy to do it herself. She had done some research and found out that the tunnels under Sophanem are connected to tunnels going all the way east, under the ruins of Ullek. She also expresses anger towards Osman for having Kaleef murdered and not caring about his agents . The High Priest gives directions as to where a pair of archaeologists had gone earlier and the adventurer departs. After crossing an extensive swamp which used to be the site of the great, prosperous city Ullek, they encounter lead archaeologist Abigail and assistant archaeologist Kerner on a plateau. After dealing with shady merchant Simon Templeton and doing some Scabaras research for them, the adventurer proceeds to investigate the ruins, on the lookout for tunnels. Hordes of undead patrol the inner plateau of what used to be Ullek, where the adventurer discovers a tunnel entrance. Inside are four chambers, overseen by a clay golem of Uzerian design, to keep keen adventurers out. They must solve four challenges, the difficulty determined by complex mechanisms, before they can head further. One of these involves slaying yet another giant scarab, meaning that they are warm. They also discover a note left by a Menaphite explorer named Toralis, who once travelled there but could not progress as he was unable to solve the puzzles. After unlocking the door, the adventurer proceeds through a tunnel leading further into the cave. It is filled with floor traps, dung, and, most importantly, many dozens of Scabarites, all trying to kill them. Despite sharp lances, devastating spells and piercing arrows being flung at them, the adventurer manages to survive and even locate the chamber of the High Priest of Scabaras. After talking to him, they come to the shocking realisation that the High Priest had been possessed by Amascut, unable to break free from her grip and constantly having his memory wiped by her. Through a series of phrases, they manage to release the High Priest from Amascut's influence and he thankfully promises to immediately cease the underground attacks on Sophanem. Attempted Assassination Amascut's anger towards the adventurer for constantly interfering with her plans grows to the point that she devises a plot to kill them once and for all. She disguises herself once again, this time as a red-haired woman named Sumona, and takes residence in a house in the town of Pollnivneach, which is also the town where a gang worshipping her has settled since, after being banished from Menaphos by the Pharaoh. She, pretending to be a damsel in distress, enlists the adventurer's help to rescue her sister - Jesmona. She claims that Jesmona, who obviously doesn't exist, has been kidnapped by evil scabarites and taken to a dungeon below Pollnivneach. As the adventurer tries to descend into the well that gives access to the dungeon, they are stopped by a street cat named Ali. Ali warns them of the dangers that lurk below; not only is the dungeon filled with nasty smoke, there are particularly powerful banshees whose cries are excruciatingly painful to bear. Ali recommends wearing a face mask in combination with earmuffs and tells them to find the spirit of the dead slayer master Catolax to ask for advice. He reveals the location of Catolax's tomb to be under Ullek. The adventurer makes their way to the tomb, where they defeat all guardians and deactivate all traps before speaking to the ghost of Catolax. He reveals that he was once an inhabitant of Ullek, but he had somehow greatly angered Amascut, who, in an act of revenge and torture, claimed Catolax's soul, leaving him unable to die and pass on to the afterlife. He teaches them how to make masked earmuffs and the adventurer goes to rescue Jesmona. After passing a pulsating barrier, four insectoid assassins refuse to release Jesmona and their banshee mistress proceeds to attack the adventurer. As she weakens, the scabarites join the battle. It does not last long however and the banshee is defeated. The scabarites attempt to apologise to Amascut, still under the guise of Jesmona, for their failure, but the survival of the adventurer has enraged her so greatly that she simply fries the assassins. She then disintegrates the book lying on a lectern, that gave her power over the monsters , and teleports away, claiming that 'Sumona' will deal with it. The adventurer returns to Sumona, who is seemingly thankful for rescuing her 'sister', even though Jesmona acted oddly. Sumona then takes on the position of a slayer master, assigning the adventurer tasks to kill large numbers of dangerous monsters, hoping they will die at some point. Apmeken's Partisans With a failed assassination attempt, Amascut's activity ceased mostly. Shortly after, the spirit of Senliten, a Second Age Uzer pharaoh queen, whose tomb had just been restored by Leela and the adventurer after the notorious merchant Ali Morrisane had raided it, contacted the adventurer and set them upon an important mission: to bring back the Kharidian monkeys. She recounts a childhood story of how she went playing in the woods and was nearly attacked by a jackal, only to be saved by a group of tropical monkeys. When Amascut deprived Apmeken of her senses, she turned them into three gorilla demons, who slew all but three of the monkeys. In order for the desert to be restored to its former glory, Senliten deems the return of the monkeys necessary. After accumulating some information from the Sophanem sphinx and Jex, custodian of the Temple of the Lesser Gods - who was knocked out by spymaster Osman during his visit to the Scabarite tunnels - the adventurer, disguised as a monkey thanks to gnome magic, makes their way through the dangerous jungle to Marim, capital of Ape Atoll, where civilised, intelligent monkeys, including the survivors of Amascut's massacre, have built up society. They find the Three Wise Monkeys Iwazaru, he who cannot speak, Mizaru, he who cannot see and Kikazaru, he who cannot hear and manage to convince them to return to the desert by revealing themselves to be human. After distracting a guard, the monkeys agree to travel to the desert, if King Awowogei, who is a devout follower of Marimbo and despises Apmeken, will allow them to leave the island. The adventurer convinces the king to start a colony in the Kharidian Desert using a self-made delicacy ("chimp ice") from the desert and he gives them a barrel of monkeys to start the colony with, and allows the Three Wise Monkeys to depart. After hours of setting up stalls, arming the monkey guards, building the colony and convincing Ali Morrisane to set up a magic carpet route to and from the colony, the monkeys settle and start a new life in the desert. The satisfied adventurer returns to Queen Senliten's tomb, where Osman had just arrived to tell his daughter off for being involved in what he deems ridiculous monkey business, causing him embarrassment from his friends and agents. Like after the return of Prince Ali, Leela becomes angry at him and refuses that he keep manipulating her, after which he leaves angrily. Senliten thanks the adventurer but then senses something is terribly wrong and urges them to check on the monkeys. Upon returning to the colony, the adventurer discovers in shock that history has repeated itself. The Monkey Colony has been destroyed, all the monkeys have been slaughtered and even the Three Wise Monkeys are missing. The adventurer communicates with a monkey ghost by combining their amulet of ghostspeak and monkeyspeak amulet into a cramulet; the ghost reveals that Amascut sent her monstrosities Leeuni, Ayuni and Eruni, the embodiments of Apmeken's speech, sight and hearing, respectively, to rid the desert of monkeys again. The demons then spread out, each taking one of the wise monkeys hostage. The adventurer prepares to rescue them. First, they destroy Leeuni who had taken Iwazaru in exactly the same spot where they'd slain Jesmona's banshee mistress earlier. After returning him to the colony, the adventurer continues their way to a side-cave of the Kalphite Hive, where they dispatch Ayuni and rescue Mizaru. He tells of how they are just pretending to be a trio of mad monkeys and that they originate from the desert and were the only survivors of the initial attack of Amascut. He also tells how Apmeken's stolen senses became the three demons and that they were to return should monkeys re-settle in the desert. After escorting Mizaru to safety as well, the adventurer enters the portal to Thammaron's Throne Room underneath the ruins of Uzer, where they barely manage to slay the terrifying Eruni and rescue Kikazaru. At their return to the colony, Apmeken herself appears, with her senses restored now that the demons have been slain, and thanks the adventurer for everything they've done - however, as the monkeys cannot sense her, they think the adventurer has gone bananas from a heat stroke - and departs to prepare for the battle against Amascut. After rebuilding the colony to how it was with the aid of the monkeys, the adventurer goes back to provide good news to Senliten and Leela. Gauntlet of Souls Followers 's tomb]] Formerly, Amascut had a multitude of worshippers, temples, and priestesses, amongst whom was Neite, a few of whom became cats after her warping. Currently, the following people voluntarily serve the Devourer, mostly out of desire for power: Apep Apep is one of the bodyguards of Amascut when she is under the guise of Lady Keli, along with Heru. He is the one holding Ali Mirza while he is kidnapped. Apep is a very tall man, and has lost an eye in battle. He is seemingly aggressive and very dangerous, carrying a special axe called uraeus. It is currently unknown how he got in Keli's service, but he died following her order of killing Ozan, Leela and the adventurer. Scabaras had his kalphites take his body afterwards. Heru Heru is one of the bodyguards of Amascut when she is under the guise of Lady Keli, along with Apep. Heru is very fat, and also appears to have an incessant lack of intelligence. He is rather passive but still dangerous, carrying a large shield called aten which he uses in battle to blind his opponent by reflecting sunlight into their eyes. It is currently unknown how he got in Keli's service, but he died following her order of killing Ozan, Leela and the adventurer. Scabaras had his kalphites take his body afterwards. Menaphite Leader The Menaphite Leader, as his title suggests, is the leader of the gang that was banished from Menaphos. He is a devout worshipper of Amascut and wishes to spread destruction in the desert. He wears traditional Menaphite clothing, and has a typical Menaphite beard. After he found out that the adventurer had settled the feud between the Menaphites and the bandits by playing both sides, he sent a particularly tough gang member after him, but he was defeated. Following this, the Menaphite Leader fled the town, leaving Ali the Operator in charge. Ali the Operator Ali the Operator is an underling of the leader of a gang of Menaphites. The gang secretly worshipped Amascut, but for this they were banished from Menaphos by the Pharaoh. They settled in Pollnivneach, and Ali was appointed overseer, but a gang of bandits interfered with their plans, producing a gang war in the town. After this feud is settled by aforementioned adventurer, Ali stays in control of the gang. Insectoid assassin Four insectoid assassins are scabarites who appear to voluntarily follow Amascut, instead of thinking she is Scabaras, like other scabarites. When Amascut disguised herself as Sumona and sent the adventurer to rescue her kidnapped sister Jesmona, they pretended to be the kidnappers and helped the banshee mistress attempt to kill the adventurer. After she was defeated, however, Jesmona killed all four assassins in an eruption of anger since they had failed to complete their task. Jabari "Ambassador" Jabari a cunning man pretending to be an ambassador for the pharaoh from Menaphos. He claims to have been sent to Al Kharid by the pharaoh to negotiate the ruling of Al Kharid when Emir Shah was very ill and his son was kidnapped. In reality, he had been sent by Amascut to poison the emir, with success, as the emir died shortly after Jabari's visit. Jabari continues to serve Amascut loyally, his next mission taking place inside Menaphos. Lapalok Lapalok, who is also known as the disciple of the Devourer, is a slayer master in Shilo Village, and the replacement for Duradel when he has to leave on a mission during While Guthix Sleeps and does not return. He is the only known follower of Amascut outside the desert and appears to be a fanatic bringer of destruction. As slayer master, his goal is to send people to slay in Amascut's name, claiming that her fate on them will be less harsh. He says to be pleased that Amascut is making her grand ascent at the moment. Trivia * Until the release of The Chosen Commander, she was the only deity that players had direct interaction with, along with Icthlarin, albeit not in her true form. She was also the first deity released and encountered in game, although disguised (namely as Lady Keli). * The symbol of Amascut is an upside down Icthlarin symbol, which is an ankh (☥). The ankh is a symbol of life, therefore Amascut's inverted ankh shows she is Icthlarin's opposite as, at least formerly, goddess of rebirth as opposed to death. * She is based on , a female demon in ancient Egyptian religion who was said to devour the hearts of evil souls after they had failed the test of truth required to pass on to the afterlife, similarly to her struggle to steal souls from her brother Icthlarin. * Given her depiction as lioness-headed and seeing that she favours violence, she resembles , another goddess in Egyptian mythology. References nl:Amascut no:Amascut lt:Amascut Category:Deities Category:Kharidian Desert Category:Antagonists Category:Icthlarin's Little Helper